On vacation in the Crustacean Nation

July 21, 2007

Sometimes, you’ve just gotta get away from it all for awhile. Ideally, you head somewhere where there’s a beach, nice weather, good scenery…and Dungeness crabs. Lot’s of em!

Luckily, I’ve got friends with a beach house on Puget Sound’s Hood Canal and, even better, is the fact that we’ve yet to do anything to tick them off enough to not get invited out once in a while. My good Alaskan guiding pal Matt and his wife Heidi had us out to the “Canal” in early July and we had a blast. While Hood Canal’s once world-class fishing has been nearly wiped out, the crabbing’s still worthwhile. Being, to put it mildly, crab enthusiasts, we were fired up when Matt suggested we do a seafood dinner!

We loaded up the pots with raw chicken and headed out to a dropoff near the house…

We dumped the pots in 80 feet of water and then it was back to tierra fima for the painstakingly long wait of 3 hours. Patience isn’t a string suit of mine when I’ve got crab on the brain…

The view from Matt’s place is sweet…that, along with a few beers, made time until we pulled the pots manageable.

A football team needs some big, slow grunt labor guys as well as a few skill position players, and the same’s true for crabbing. Here, Matt provides the muscle to pull the pots while I’m tending to the helm…trying not to pull a muscle in my big toe or get a hangnail.

Yea, baby…come to papa. You sweet, succulent little devils!

Welcome aboard…care for a dip in some hot water? My stomach’s growling at the thought!

Of course, Matt reminds me that there are limits and size restrictions we have to abide by. I argue we’d just eat the evidence and nobody would be the wiser, but he can tell that my crab delirium has nearly reached its zenith and I’m in no position to make any rational thoughts. Luckily, cooler heads prevail and we check for keepers.

At this point, we’re headed to the big pots with crabs in tow and I’m trying to play it cool…trying not to break into a sprint.

‘
The rest of the evening was a blur…boiling water, then fresh garlic bread and lingcod fillets on the grill. A couple Alaskan Ambers and a huge pile of busted crab exoskeleton. The next thing I know, I’m snapping a photo of the carnage.

A overly full belly and a nice Hood Canal sunset. Think I’m gonna sleep good tonight…